Peoria Councilman Clyde Gulley calls it quits

After nearly 12 years of serving the 1st District, Clyde Gulley Jr. is retiring from the Peoria City Council. That doesn’t mean the 52-year-old plans to bow out of public service.

“I just think I’ve been on the council long enough,” Gulley said Wednesday.

Gulley, who was elected in 2001, said he will finish his term, which ends May 1, 2013.

JOHN SHARP

After nearly 12 years of serving the 1st District, Clyde Gulley Jr. is retiring from the Peoria City Council.

That doesn’t mean the 52-year-old plans to bow out of public service.

“I just think I’ve been on the council long enough,” Gulley said Wednesday.

Gulley, who was elected in 2001, said he will finish his term, which ends May 1, 2013. The winner of the April 9, 2013, election will fill his 1st District seat.

“I’ve been on there for 12 years,” Gulley said. “I need to move to bigger and better things. I think after 12 years it’s time for a new vision and new blood and new ideas.”

Gulley won his seat in 2001 on a platform of economic development, basic city services and urban-renewal opportunities for the 1st District’s “South Gateway” area near Harrison Homes. He defeated opponent Debra Doyle in the general election.

Gulley ran unsuccessfully for the council in 1997, falling short in the primary. Christopher Duncan II served the 1st District from 1997 to 2001.

“I have enjoyed his time in office,” Lorainne B. Carter, president of the Martin-Warren Southside Neighborhood Association said about Gulley’s tenure. “I hate to see him go.”

Carter said Gulley’s work within South Peoria’s neighborhoods, including his recent work with issuing “Good Neighbor” awards to residents who battle the area’s image of violence and blight, has been beneficial.

Lavetta Ricca, president of the Olde Towne South Neighborhood Association, said while she didn’t always agree with Gulley on issues facing South Peoria, she had a “good relationship” with the likeable councilman.

“He’s a hard working guy,” she said.

Gulley, in the past year, has been one of the more vocal and active council members, spearheading efforts in South Peoria to preserve Southtown tax increment financing district money within the area it was originally intended to be spent.

Those efforts were highlighted during community meetings Gulley oversaw that were well attended and included suggestions from the public on how approximately $8.2 million in Southtown TIF district money should be spent by November 2014, when the district is set to expire. The City Council could vote on whether specific projects within the TIF district’s boundaries should get funding during its Sept. 11 meeting.

“The (Southtown TIF) plan and how it will be implemented will be completed before I leave,” Gulley said.

The only known candidate seeking Gulley’s seat is Denise Moore, a financial adviser and business consultant who publicly announced Gulley’s retirement in a news release she issued Wednesday about her candidacy.

Gulley said he supports Moore’s candidacy, but stopped short of outright endorsing her.

“He’s done a lot for the community and I wish him well on the next thing he does,” Moore said.

John Sharp can be reached at 686-3282 or jsharp@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @JohnSharp99.